Eleven Lost
by S.N.N.E.E
Summary: In the midst of the Clone Wars, a group headed for the Destaliss system goes missing. When they return, things aren't quite the same as when they left.
1. Part One

Cole was awakened by a loud, repeated banging sound. Looking around, he realized someone was knocking on his door. Ever so slowly, he stood up and made his way across the room.

Opening the door, he met face to face with a rather oddly shaped creature. "What do you want, Ved?" Cole asked rudely.

"We are approaching our destination, sir. I was told to gather everyone in the leisure room," the creature answered.

"Oh. Al-alright. I'm sorry," Cole responded groggily, rubbing his eyes. "I'll be there shortly."

The creature nodded, and proceeded to wake up the rest of the passengers. They were on a ship headed to the planet Destaliss. Cole Freerath was a Jedi, as were four of the other ten beings on board. They, along with a clone trooper, were to act as bodyguards to an ambassador on a diplomatic mission. While one or two bodyguards would have easily been enough, the others were along for the ride because the various terrains on Destaliss would provide for excellent training exercises in their spare time.

Once Cole was presentable, he made his way to the leisure room. Upon entering, he looked around to see how many of the others had made it there before him.

The first being he saw was Dellin Arkbarra, a Twi'lek girl about his age. She, like Cole, was a Jedi Knight. The two had practically trained side by side, as had their masters before them.

Scanning the room, he saw two figures playing at a Dejarik board. The first was Regulos Arvi, an aging human Jedi Master. The other was ADR-52, an even older brown astromech droid with white panels, and a drum-shaped head.

Sitting in another corner, having a conversation, were Madam Imalda Reen and her assistant. Madam Reen was another human, and the aforementioned ambassador. She was the representative for Destaliss in the Republic. Her assistant, Don Grit San, was of a species with which Cole was not familiar. His body somewhat resembled that of an Ithorian, but he had a birdlike face and shorter arms and legs.

Finally, resting against the wall, there was Samson Gunno, a Weequay. He was the Jedi Master who had trained Dellin.

Taking a seat between Dellin and Regulos, where he could see the Dejarik game, Cole patiently awaited the rest of the passengers. When they did finally arrive, they were accompanied by Ved Kay Don, the creature who had awoken Cole. Ved was Don Grit San's son, and was acting as an intern of sorts to both Don and Madam Reen.

With him was another Jedi, and a clone trooper. The Jedi was Vivix Pazra, Cole's old master. He was a Togruta, with orange colored skin, and a scarred face. The clone was Commander CT-4259, nicknamed "Max" by the other clones. He was under the command of Regulos.

Cole himself was a human, although not one hundred percent. His eyes had a tendency to slightly change colors depending on his mood, leading him to believe he probably had a non-human ancestor.

The only person missing was the pilot, Kayna Dego. She was the owner of the ship, as well as the owner of ADR-52. Like Imalda Reen, Kayna was a native of Destaliss. Most of the passengers had only glimpsed her briefly upon boarding, so the only thing they really knew about her was that she was a human.

After a couple of minutes, when Kayna did show up, Cole saw that she was quite beautiful. She had pale, almost white skin, bright green eyes, and hair that was just the right color that it appeared red in some lights, and brown in others. "Five-Two, come to the cockpit," she said.

The droid responded with beeps and whistles, letting her know that he was in the middle of a game.

"Well, I can't land this massive ship by myself. I need your help."

ADR-52 looked back and forth between Regulos and Kayna, then let out a sound resembling a sigh. Forfeiting the game, he followed Kayna to the cockpit.

"You were probably going to lose anyway," she said to him, before letting the door close behind them.

"So," Dellin spoke up, "I've never been to Destaliss before. What's it like?"

"About a third of the planet is uninhabited," Imalda answered. "Water, forests, jungles, and the like. A quarter or so is farmland, and the rest is urbanized."

Dellin thought for a moment. A literal description of the planet's environment was not exactly what she had been expecting to hear. Then again, she didn't really know what she had expected to hear, so she just smiled.

"The forests are where we will be spending much of our free time," piped Samson from his corner.

"Samson, I thought you were asleep," Regulos answered, looking up and smirking.

"I was simply giving my eyes a rest," came the reply.

Suddenly, the ship shook violently, causing most of the passengers to fall out of their seats.

"What was that?" asked Max, standing up.

"Cole," said Vivix, "let's go check on Kayna and Five-Two."

The two of them quickly made their way through the corridor and into the cockpit. "Kayna," Vivix said with caution.

"I'm fine," she responded, turning around in her chair.

"What about Five-Two?" asked Cole.

"He's headed to the lift. He went to see-"

She was interrupted and thrown from her seat when the ship shook again, this time more aggressively.

"Bra'ch!" Kayna cursed. Standing up, she pushed the intercom button on the dash. "Five-Two! What the hell is happening?"

The droid responded, but not through the intercom. Instead, the whirs and beeps came from down the corridor.

"What do you mean you didn't make it to the lift?" she shouted angrily.

Before ADR-52 could answer, the ship shook a third time, even harder.

"Look!" Cole pointed out the window.

Vivix and Kayna looked up to see what appeared to be some sort of small, contained force field drawing them towards it.

"Is it a tractor beam?" asked Vivix.

"No," answered Kayna, "I don't-"

She was interrupted again by the most violent shake yet. This time, the trio looked out the window just in time to see the energy field collide with their ship. It sent a shockwave over the entire vessel, which was the last thing any of them saw before blacking out.


	2. Part Two

Dellin felt like her head was about to explode. Groaning, she slowly opened her eyes and sat up. Where was she? Looking around, she saw six other figures lying on the ground. One of them appeared to be her old master.

"Master Gunno!" she cried, rushing over to check his pulse. Feeling a heartbeat, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then it all came back to her. Destaliss, Madam Reen, the tremors. Her mind was suddenly filled with thoughts, memories, and fears. She quickly made sure everyone else in the room was alive, then made her way to the cockpit.

"Master Pazra? Cole?" she called, before seeing them on the ground as well. Hearing a moan, she turned to see Kayna coming to.

"Are you okay, Miss Dego?" Dellin asked, helping the young pilot stand up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Who- who are you?"

"Dellin Arkbarra. One of your passengers."

"Passengers for what? Oh!" Kayna's eyes got wide as memories hit her like a flood. "We've got to-" she trailed off, looking out the window.

"What? What's wrong?" Dellin asked, turning to see what Kayna was looking at.

"We're- we're in orbit. We're orbiting Destaliss," Kayna muttered, astounded. "How can that be? That thing hit us. We should be- I don't understand."

As Kayna was sitting down in her seat, Dellin was relieved to see Cole and Vivix waking up.

Dellin turned her eyes toward the corridor, but quickly looked back to make sure the others in the cockpit were alright. As if he could read her mind, Vivix assured her they were just fine, and told her to make her way back to the leisure room. Upon doing so, Dellin opened the door to see that everyone but Samson had come to.

Commander Max saw the worry in Dellin's eyes, and reassured her, "He's alive. I checked."

"So did I," she answered.

Max stood up. "Should we go check on the pilot?"

"Already did," Dellin said, finally turning her gaze from her unconscious mentor to look the clone trooper in the eye.

"Well, you're certainly on top of things. Do you know what happened?" Max asked, sitting back down.

Following suit, Dellin sat cross-legged on the floor, and answered, "Kayna said we hit something."

"That is apparent," said Regulos, startling her. She had almost forgotten that there were others in the room. "Did she say what it was?" he asked, helping Madam Reen and her assistants back to their seats.

"No, but whatever it was didn't knock us off course or anything," the Twi'lek continued, explaining that they were in orbit around the planet they had been headed for.

"Orbit?" came Don's voice. "We have work to do. We should tell Kayna to land."

As if on cue, the sound of the ship powering up could be heard.

Back in the cockpit, Kayna was looking at displays on the dash. "Well, for the most part, we're okay" she said, turning to look at the two Jedi standing behind her. "I need one of you to find Five-Two and tell him engine three is down. He'll know exactly what to do. I need the other one to stay in here and help me land this ship."

"I'll help in here. Cole, you go and look for the droid," Vivix said, taking a seat.

Cole nodded, and ran off to find ADR-52.

"I sense you are anxious," Vivix said to Kayna.

"I'm a little worried, yes, but if we don't focus, our landing will be very uncomfortable," she answered, returning to the controls. "Now, here's what you need to do."

Shortly after Kayna finished walking the Master Jedi through his instructions, Cole's voice came over the intercom. "Your droid says the engines are good to go."

"Good work," Kayna responded, glad to hear that her faithful companion was alright.

"I think you should consider getting a new astro droid. This one's an antique. Maybe-"

"Five-Two is irreplaceable. He stays," Kayna cut Cole off sharply, eliciting a happy sounding buzz from the droid. "Now," she said, turning her attention back to Vivix, "let's land this ship."


	3. Part Three

Once the ship had reached the ground, and everyone had made their way outside, Kayna let out a sigh. A questioning beep came from ADR-52. She looked down at him and smiled.

The two had been friends for as long as Kayna could remember. From what her father had told her, the droid had been instrumental in many battles, then sold to their family when he became outdated. Her father flew a cargo ship for a living, as did his father before him. Kayna had trained to do so as well, but after a few seasons, she decided that she didn't like transporting goods for such small pay, so she instead got a job for the Republic, transporting people. Once her father passed away, ownership of ADR-52 passed to Kayna, as well as a small ship he had been fixing up. Kayna often worked on the ship in between jobs, as it was able to fit in the spacious cargo hold of the group transporter she had been assigned. While she didn't much care for the large vessel the Republic made her fly, her father's ship meant everything to her.

"Well Five-Two," the young pilot said to her companion, "I don't think we'll be making any progress on dad's ship today. We need to get this engine repaired. We'll probably need most of it replaced."

"Good luck with that," said a very annoyed Don. "We've landed in the middle of nowhere! We will most certainly be late, thanks to you."

Kayna suddenly became defensive. "Excuse me? You try landing a transporter that size with a bad engine. You're lucky we didn't end up in the water."

"Your reckless flying put all of our lives in danger!"

"Don," Imalda said calmly, placing her hand on her assistant's shoulder. "We're all safe. That's what matters."

"All safe? We don't even know where we are!" Don continued ranting.

"Father, please," Ved piped up.

"And for all we know, General Gunno may not even-"

"Don, that's quite enough!" Imalda interrupted him again, this time with a tone that elicited a look of surprise from everyone. She then took a deep breath, and turned to Kayna. "Miss Dego, would you kindly bring out the speeder bikes so some volunteers can go look for help?"

"Of- of course Madam Reen," Kayna answered, still stunned. Kayna pushed a combination of buttons on the side of the ship, opening a panel near the bottom. Behind the panel was a storage drawer of sorts, from which she pulled out two speeder bikes.

"Now," Imalda continued, "who would like to volunteer?"

"I'll go," said Regulos. "I'd be happy to be of service. Max, would you care to join me?"

"Yes sir," the clone quickly answered, putting his helmet on. The two hopped on the bikes, made sure their wrist coms were turned on, and headed north.

"Ved," Imalda piped up once again, "would you and Miss Dego be so kind as to see if there is anything edible in my quarters?"

"Yes Madam," Ved answered, nodding.

As the two of them made their way into the ship and down the corridor, Kayna spoke up. "No offense, but is your father always that uptight?"

"His job is quite stressful," came the reply.

"Then why do you want to do it?"

"I am training to take over for my father as Madam Reen's assistant because he will not be able to do it for much longer. My species does not have as long a lifespan as most do."

"Again, no offense, but what are you? I don't remember ever meeting anyone of your species except for you two."

"We are Mornals, native to Lizeena. Our species is rather timid, as we are still young in our evolution. Very few of us were curious enough to leave the planet."

The pair stopped at the room Madam Reen had slept in on the long voyage from Coruscant to Destaliss. They opened the door, and Ved made his way to a small box in the corner of the room.

"You know," said Kayna, "I was trained to take over for my father, too."

"Ah, he was a pilot?" Ved asked, retrieving a greenish colored fruit from the box.

"Yeah, but he didn't fly passengers like I do. He moved cargo. Mostly expired food and stuff nobody wanted."

"I can see how that would be an unfulfilling career choice. If you don't mind my asking, was it difficult for you to find Republic employment?"

"Not really. I had experience and my own droid, so I beat out a lot of candidates my age."

After a bit more chatting, they were back outside. Ved went to give the fruit to Madam Reen, and Kayna, being joined by ADR-52, made her way over to Cole, Dellin, and Vivix, who were seated around a still unconscious Samson Gunno.

"Is your friend going to be alright?" Kayna asked the two male Jedi, as Dellin appeared to be meditating.

"I certainly hope so," answered Vivix. "All of his vitals seem to be in order. I can only assume he is in a coma."

"Not to point any fingers," said Cole, "but why doesn't a ship this size have a medical droid on board?"

"Beats me," Kayna said. "I don't own this thing. I just fly it where they tell me to."

Five-Two then piped up, beeping at his human companion to get her attention.

"What? What is it?" Kayna asked, turning to him. Out came one of ADR-52's tools, acting as a finger. The group looked to where the droid was pointing, and they saw what appeared to be a human at the top of a distant hill.


	4. Part Four

"Right here will do," Regulos called to Max, over the sound of the wind. The two slowed their speeder bikes to a halt in front of what appeared to be a diner. Hopping off, the Jedi Master motioned for his friend and right hand man to follow him inside. "I can't seem to reach anyone on my holoprojector, so it looks like the ambassador's meeting will have to wait. Our priority is finding someone who can help us repair the ship."

Max simply nodded. The clone never argued with his orders, because in his eyes, Regulos Arvi had always been a perfect leader, valuing logic and reason above all else.

Upon entering the diner, the two friends took note of how poorly kept the establishment appeared. Looking around, they only spotted one patron, a small life form covered in messy black hair seated at the bar.

"Must be a slow day," remarked Max, catching the attention of the hairy patron.

"Hey Ritt, ya got customers!" the creature shouted, picking a few crumbs out of its long, unkempt hair. Its voice suggested, unsurprisingly, that it was intoxicated.

Hearing heavy footsteps, the pair approached the bar. The kitchen door opened, and they were met with a grossly overweight reptilian creature. "Welcome to the Outskirts Café," the monstrous being greeted them with a voice like thunder. "Name's Ritt Guzner. What can I get for you?"

"Actually we were wondering if you could tell us where we could get parts for a tri-core engine. We crash landed, you see," said Regulos.

"Travelers, eh? Sure, I'll help you," Ritt responded enthusiastically. "Tell you what, though. How 'bout you two try some of my famous blue stew first. You must be hungry. Where'd you fly in from?"

"Coruscant. We're on business," Max said sharply. "We really don't have time for food."

"Nonsense!" Ritt said with a smile. "There's always time for food! You boys just make yourself comfortable. I'll start you off with something nice to drink. You fellas look like you work hard. In the mood for some booze?"

"Water will do fine, thank you," answered Regulos. "Let's not be rude, Max."

"Comin' your way. Sit anywhere you like. I'll be right back," the beast assured them, making his way back into the kitchen.

The pair made their way to the nearest booth and sat down. After removing his helmet, Max heard a slight gasp. He looked over to see the hairy creature staring at him with wide eyes. "What are you looking at?" the clone inquired, eliciting a "calm down" hand gesture from his Jedi companion.

It didn't take long for Ritt to come back with two glasses of water, and as he was putting the glasses on the table, the creature from the bar shouted to him. "Ritt! Ritt, it's him! He's back from the dead to get me!" it babbled, pointing at Max.

"Quit talkin' nonsense, Krav. This here man's a guest in my establishment," came Ritt's reply, with an annoyed tone.

"He's back, Ritt. Can you see him too? I knew this day would come!"

With a heavy sigh, Ritt walked over to the bar and picked up Krav by the hair on his head. Ignoring the little pest's cries for mercy, the enormous chef carried him over to the doorway, and tossed him out.

"Sorry about that, fellas. You know how some folks get when they've had too much."

"What did he mean by that?" Max asked. "Back from the dead?"

"Krav's paranoid, that's all. Probably just surprised to see one of you soldiers with your helmet off. I thought you weren't allowed to take 'em off, to tell you the truth."

Max rolled his eyes. "We're allowed to do lots of stuff, bub."

Ritt smirked. "Guess I'm just the last to know stuff, cooped up all alone in this kitchen every day. Anyway, what can I get you gentlemen to eat? We got our specials wrote on the board there. I'll tell you again, I recommend the blue stew. My specialty, you know."

"That sounds wonderful. What's the charge?" asked Regulos.

"Oh, don't you sweat it," Ritt answered. "Everything's on the house for Imperial folks."

Regulos raised an eyebrow. "Imperial?"

Ritt suddenly looked confused as well. "You fellas work for the Emperor, don't you?"

Regulos looked at Max, who simply shrugged. Curious, the Jedi looked back at the chef and asked, "What Emperor?"


End file.
